Wildflowers Far and Near

I hesitate to mention this, because if you are like me, you don't want to hear it.  But, it's snowing.  I'm not going to say more (or post any photos of it!), except to say that's why I had a change of plans for today's post.  With, ahhhemmm... that 'white stuff' coming down outside my window right now -- I'm going to keep my eyes on my computer screen and look at flowers!  I thought you might like to, too.

My husband's and my trip to Texas was mostly about birding (and as promised in my last post, I will tell you more about the birds soon)! But we enjoyed the wildflowers as well.

When you think of "Texas" and "wildflowers" most likely Bluebonnets come to mind.  While we did see some, it was from our rental car, flying down the interstate just outside Houston.  (I should say, I think they were Bluebonnets!)  There was no way I was going to ask my husband to pull over so I could get a few photos.  Also, I figured if we saw them there, we would probably see them again.  Didn't happen!  Later, we saw some blue Lupines, so perhaps that's what they were.  Anyway, on with the flowers...

There was Texas Indian Paintbrush by the mile along the roadsides and beaches (in the first photo, that's the Gulf in the background).

The 'flowers' are really colored bracts.  The actual flower is small and white. 

Isn't that a pretty shade? It's not quite pink -- I'd call them coral.  Which would be what you'd probably get if you mixed the colors of the next two flowers.

We saw this nice mix of colors often.  Evening Primroses (the yellow ones) and Gaillardia, also called Blanket Flower, Indian Blanket, or Firewheel.  I think Firewheel suites it best.  I've had both in my garden here in PA. 

Even in Texas, it was nice to have the brightness of flowers on the couple of gray days we experienced the week we were there.

Yellow coreopsis was another flower we saw in Texas that I have at home in my flower garden.

It's an easy plant to grow and its flowers are attractive to butterflies... then, if you let it go to seed, the birds will enjoy those.

I've always thought it is neat to see plants in far-away places that grow 'like weeds' there, while here in Plant Hardiness Zone 5 we have to grow with care.  (Like Coleus and Impatiens growing in the roadside ditches in Costa Rica).  The next plant -- Lantana, is one of those.  In Texas, we saw it all over the place:

You may have grown it in a hanging basket if you live in a northern climate like me.  In Texas, it's a native.  Another name for it is Calico Bush.  I really like that... it fits, don't you think?

The next little plant, I think I'd like to have in my garden, but it's only hardy to zone 8, so I'd have to bring the bulbs in over the winter.  I'd probably have to protect them anyway because our chipmunks might eat them!  They are related to Crocus, and chipmunks eat those bulbs like they are dessert!

It's another native to Texas called Herbertia.  Or, if you prefer (and I do!) its other common name... Prairie Nymph.  They are only about 2" tall and the flowers only last a short time (kind of like Crocus, too).

The next flower I think is very pretty, but I don't want it in my garden.

It's some type of thistle.  When I tried to figure out exactly what type on the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower website,  just under 'thistles' there were 37 results.  So, I'm calling it a Thistle!  You can see from the photo above that they are good hosts for bees and the flowers are pretty.  But, oh, those spines!

Not sure if this one is a native or alien, but most thistles are quick spreaders and hard to get rid of, so-- not good for flower gardens.

Another flower we saw in the roadside ditches of Texas were these Spiderlilies.

 They are in the same family as some flowers I do have in my garden -- Hymencallis.

The ones I have are commonly called Peruvian Daffodils (Hymencallis narcissiflora).  Here's a close up from my garden last summer:

They grow from bulbs, which I have to dig up in the fall and replant in the spring (but the chipmunks leave them alone!).  I think they are pretty enough to be worth it, and for me, they are nostalgic because my grandparents had them in their garden.  

Hey, the weather has changed while I wrote this and the sun has come out!  Now it's time to go for a walk in the woods.  After we came back from Texas was prime-time for our own wildflowers to begin blooming...

Hepatica is a small, dainty flower only a few inches in height, but in my book they are favorites!  I've written about them before (they had their own post here) but I can't resist posting more photos, especially since they seem to be extra nice this spring.

The flowers pop up first, then the leaves.  Look closely at the photo above and you can see the furry new leaves just starting to unfold at the base of the plant on the left.

 So pretty... from white to pink to bluish-purple!

Technically, I don't have these in my garden, unless you count the nearby woods as 'garden'.  And, I would not dig them up... they are happy where they are and so am I.  Especially now that the you-know-what has stopped falling from the sky and the sun has melted it off the ground!

High Island - The Rookery

One of the things I love about birding is the element of surprise.  Every time you go out, it's a bit of a treasure hunt.  (Guess that's why I also like to look for shells on the beach or wildflowers in the woods - they are all 'treasures' to me).  You never know what you are going to find.  Sure, you know where certain birds are likely to be, but you also have surprise birds.

When my husband and I were in Texas we visited High Island, where the Houston Audubon Society maintains several bird sanctuaries.  If you've ever read "The Big Year" by Mark Obmascik or "Kingbird Highway" by Kenn Kaufman, you will have heard of High Island. 

The main thing High Island is famous for is 'fall-out'. In birder lingo, that describes times when warblers by the hundreds make a rest stop after their long journey across the Gulf of Mexico.   High Island -- which is neither high (only 32' above sea level) or an island; does have something the weary birds need -- trees to rest and feed in.  Since much of the coastal area in Texas lacks trees, the birds get concentrated in the few areas that do have them, like High Island. Whether the migrant warblers stop depends on the weather and how much they need to replenish their body fat before they continue on their journey.  

So, when we visited High Island we knew there was no promise of trees filled with warblers.  We had already talked to other birders at nearby Anahauc National Wildlife Refuge, who said it was "slow" at High Island, and it was being said "maybe the birds are a little late this year".   They also said, "Don't miss the Rookery".  The Rookery?  I didn't remember reading about that.

We knew there was going to be a bird walk at 8:30, so we made sure we got to the Boy Scout Woods section of the High Island Sanctuaries by then.  We took a quick peek at the bird feeders behind this building because we'd been told a Painted Bunting had been hanging around.  However, it wasn't there when we looked.  Whenever anyone asked if there was a particular bird we were hoping to see, Painted Bunting is the one we said (we never did see one).

 As predicted, it was "slow"... not many birds to be found, even by the professionals (three guys from Tropical Birding Tours).  Still, it was fun to see the place after reading about it many times.

The guys in the red hats were the leaders.  It was nice that they stayed spread out thru the group.  You can see two in the photo and the third one was at the end of the line. That way we could always know what was going on.  Which, of course, wasn't much. 

We spent a little time sitting in the bleachers, watching the 'drip'.  Birds are often attracted to dripping water, so they have one set up there.  Nothing showed up.

We walked around by ourselves for a little while again, but the woods were pretty still.

We looked at the small gift shop, run by volunteers, and read the posted list of sightings.

It was still early in the day so we decided to check out the Rookery.  Well, any disappointment we might have felt at the lack of warblers was quickly forgotten!  That day, the Rookery was where the action was!

A small section of the Rookery

There were hundreds of birds - Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, Roseate Spoonbills, Neotropic Cormorants, and a few other kinds here and there.  Along the edge of "Heron Island" were four viewing shelters, like this one:

Be sure to check the birds in the background.  Wow, there was always something going on here!

Some of the Great Egrets were doing courtship displays, as in these two photos.

Others were still collecting and passing sticks to their mates, even though their nests looked complete to us.  Perhaps they were fixing up old nests.

Some were sitting on eggs.

And, there were even two that had babies in their nests.

 Then, there were the Roseate Spoonbills.  Kenn Kaufman, in "Lives of North American Birds" says they are "gorgeous at a distance and bizarre up close".  Well, we got to see them both ways, and I would agree!

They are graceful looking in flight, but with their heavy weight on the slender branches, they were comical to watch.  Rather ungainly would describe their movements.

They, too, were in varying stages of nesting.  This next pair were still in courtship-- crossing and clasping their bills together.

After Hurricane Ike damaged trees, Audubon volunteers built some nesting platforms.

We watched two pair starting to build nests.   I'd say the best spots - mainly the higher ones - were already taken.

Some of the Spoonbills were sitting on eggs.

There was a lot of harassing of others going on, due to the crowded neighborhood.

There was even an alligator down below... perhaps hoping for a meal? 

Thankfully no one was eaten while we watched!

There were quite a few Neotropic Cormorants nesting there, too.  They were much more sedate than the egrets or spoonbills, though this one seems to be upset about something.

Down below, besides a couple of alligators, were a turtle and a Common Moorhen.

Besides watching all the antics going on at the Rookery, it was really fun to listen to the birds.  The sounds being made by all of them were quite comical at times.  I'm not sure what was making a Donald Duck sound, but it made me laugh. 

After a slow start, it turned out to be a great day after all.  And, later in our trip at a different location, we saw lots of warblers and other birds... but that's another story.

For Love of Turtles

Lots of people love turtles, and I am one of them.  I am happy to report that this past week for me was quite turtle-ly.  My husband and I spent the week in south Texas, thanks to air mile vouchers for our flights.   We timed our trip for what we hoped would be good birding there during spring migration, and we planned to visit some famous birding spots.  We did see lots of birds, but we also saw quite a few turtles.  I'll tell you more about the birds later, but in this post, the turtles get the spotlight.

The first place we went was Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge.  There in the cypress bog were lots of Red-eared Sliders of all sizes.  The one above was about 5" long.

This log seemed to be the spot for the smaller ones (with the exception of the larger one in the back, being used as a perch for a little guy).

A nearby log was the hang-out for most of the larger ones.

The next turtles were at Paradise Pond in Port Aransas.  I didn't notice them right away, they were so well camouflaged with duckweed.

When we were at Padre Island, we saw this sign.  It was the time of year for Green Sea Turtles to come onto the beach to lay their eggs.  We did walk the beach awhile, but we didn't see any turtles. 

But, it just happened we were there for a turtle release!  The local  rehab center was going to release healed Green Sea Turtles back into the ocean.  When we checked into our motel, the friendly clerk told me about it. What luck that we were there at the right time!

We got a good spot along the taped off section of beach to watch.  First, they brought all the turtles out in plastic containers.

The turtle they set down right in front of us was named Lester.
I guess it can be hard to tell sea turtles apart, because they all had their names on post-it notes!

A huge crowd had gathered to see the turtles released, so even though several of the ladies who volunteer at the Texas Sealife Center talked to us about the turtles, I couldn't hear all of what was said.  I believe there were 17 turtles.  

They had all been living at the center until they were well enough to live back in the ocean.  Some of them had tumors removed, like this guy.

You can see on his foreleg where he has a scar from the surgery.

The next turtle lost one front leg in an accident, but had healed and will be able to survive nicely without it, according to the lady who carried it back to the sea.

Many of the turtles looked perfect... and they may have been ones that were rescued by boat when the water in the area got below 40 degrees.  At that temperature, they basically can't function well and float along on top of the water.  They might wash up on shore where they would be vulnerable to predators or simply die in the cold water.

As they were being shown to the crowd, most of the turtles were flapping their flippers excitedly... they could smell the ocean and they were ready to go!

The volunteers from the Sealife Center carried them, one by one, into the water.

Off they went...

... until there was only one left!  The biggest one of all.

It took two guys to lift it out of the back of the truck.

It was flapping, ready to swim!

What a joyful moment to see each turtle returned to where it belonged. 

The next turtles of my week are from back home today in PA!  They are Painted Turtles, sunning themselves on a log in our beaver swamp.  (You can read more about our turtles in this post called "Why did the turtle cross the road?") 

I like to do a 'turtle count' on sunny days like today, and I was happy to see 10 on one log.

There were two more on another log.

I was glad to see they made it through the extremely cold winter we had.  An added bonus while I was counting turtles was seeing a pair of Hooded Mergansers.  You can easily see the male just behind the turtles in the above photo.  The female is not so easy to see.  She is to the left of him on the other side of the reeds.  

I'm not sure why so many people love turtles, but if you weren't one of them before, I hope you are now!